Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Gentiana Flavida... The Cream Of The Crop.

The meadow that I am working on restoring, at first looked very unpromising: aerial photos showed it to be pasture up until about 35 years ago, then it was abandoned, and has been gradually invaded by brush and trees. However, small treasures have slowly revealed themselves, and the best of all has come to light... Gentiana flavida, the cream gentian. This is one of the finest of mesic prairie wildflowers, and quite rare now in Iowa. I am gradually clearing out the brush, and starting to work on the alien grasses, and we'll burn in the spring; hopefully more finds will be made. Posted by Picasa

Comments:
Such an exciting project!
 
So how do you save these rare flowers and burn in the spring at the same time? Do you save seeds, or just hope it finds a way to survive?

Sorry for so many questions, I'm just very curious!
 
So far, it IS fun, though lopping off huge jungles of multiflora rose, with all those thorns, is not my completely favorite thing.
Prairie flowers are made to be somewhat fire resistant, but in this case, we'll burn very early in the spring, before the flowers are even up.
 
that sounds like a good project! Burning is something the open areas around here sorely need, but of course it isnt allowed :( so the natives struggle to survive around here
 
Ah--so it's all in the timing. Thanks for the explanation!
 
It's sad how degraded our open areas are getting... I always knew this, but my eyes have been opened much wider now that I'm getting where I can i.d. all the different grasses, weeds, etc.
Don
 
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